A Norfolk dental practice has had queues of “more than 300 people” for a chance to sign up.
Over 10 days, Smile Dental Care is offering 1,000 places for new patients. Each day they will take on the first hundred people to register.
The first opportunity to sign up was on April 2, 2023. The queue began forming at 4 am and eventually lined the high street.
According to the Eastern Daily Press, this is “the first time new patients have been accepted anywhere in the area for three years.”
Rob Colwell, councillor for Gaywood South, said, “Far too many people in west Norfolk are struggling to see an NHS dentist and get the affordable dental healthcare they need.
“The vulnerable and elderly can’t stand for hours waiting for one of a few rare NHS spaces - we’ve reached a breaking point in this crisis.”
James Wild, MP for North West Norfolk commented, "Having campaigned successfully for the NHS to issue contracts which led to the new Smile Dentalcare practice opening last summer, I am pleased thousands of patients have had appointments since then.
"It is encouraging the practice is now taking on more NHS patients, although I’ve raised concerns with the company over this process and particularly how vulnerable people can register. Last month I met with the NHS again to urge them to take further steps to improve access to dentists in West Norfolk to meet the demand locally.”
Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee said, “This is a wealthy 21st century nation, and dentistry is meant to be a core part of our NHS. But we’re now seeing scenes you’d expect outside bakeries in the Soviet Bloc.
“The crisis in dentistry is still with us and requires real urgency and ambition from government.”